I am very grateful to have been asked by the son of colleague at Marlboro College, where I teach on the MBA program, if I had any advice on his application to an amazing new academic institution that combines art, technology and the business of innovation. Not having heard of it before, I found out that this disruptive initiative is one of the most exciting things happening in entrepreneurship learning.
With a visionary $70 million gift from music-industry leaders Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young (aka Dr Dre), the University of Southern California has established a new academy to teach critical thinking and nurture unbridled creativity at the intersection of three essential areas: art and design; engineering and computer science; and business and venture management.
Conceived as a collaborative environment that brings multidisciplinary students, instructors and professional mentors together, the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation’s executive director says, “There are a lot of other programs around the country that marry business and technology, but they’re all missing that arts and cultural component. The difference with us is we start with the arts part.”
The two founders consolidated their business success when they founded the Beats headphone company in 2008, and sold it to Apple in May 2014 for $3 billion.